Book-Learning Montage

Each day blended into the next, though one thing that did stick out was the Technical Studies lesson that explained why it seemed as though our cultivation bases couldn't be raised very much by cultivating. Cultivation speed, it turned out, was influenced by the Aura stat, which always increased very slowly until a cultivator reached the Aura Formation Realm—the Seventh Earth Realm. However, in the vast world of the Mortal Heaven, there were countless regions of higher and lower concentrations of Qi. The higher the Qi concentration, the more effectively one could cultivate.

The Academy grounds were also a special case in that regard. They were under the influence of some kind of vast formation that kept the Qi density to a minimum. This was to encourage the students to, once they'd gotten past the first couple Earth Realms, spend their time studying and training instead of just cultivating, and to do their best to gather beast cores and gain Qi by fighting magical beasts in the summer.

Later, Hasegawa tied that lesson into a lesson on what was apparently called Heavenly Territories. Most Sects, as well as the great cultivation Families, controlled regions of wildly varying size and composition as their Territory. Towns and cities were nominally in charge of their own governance, but the Sect set the law of the land and ensured peace within its Territory. A Sect's Rank and the size and quality of the Territory it controlled were closely related—one could be awarded Territory from a Divine Emissary due to an advance in rank, or a Sect could gain control of more Territory than its fellows and be judged above them as a result.

And of course, the best Sects controlled the most desirable Territory, and Qi density was a major part of that. The Azure Flame Abbey had a relatively low number of members, but its main Territory, while one of the smaller owned by Sects in the top 10, was arguably the best for cultivation in the entire Mortal Heaven, which played a major part as to why they were #3 out of several thousand.

Before lessons turned to topics relevant to our next summer's trial, the upper rankings began to shift. Senyu Quan had stopped declining all spars, and he'd carved a path up the remaining ranks with his battle results. Try as he might, Shokoya wasn't able to stop Quan from overtaking him, and I barely scraped a 70/30 record against him myself. Too, the Spear and Shield duo had made a comeback against Shai Shan, overtaking her but remaining under Qingling Mei.

By the last month of classes, with finals drawing near, a clear favorite to occupy the 10th slot that would advance to the Academy Inner Court had emerged. Wang Jing was painfully shy even comparing to me or Quan. They'd been more unknown until now because it had taken a lot for Class A's instructor to bring out potential, especially since they shared a classroom with the brash Jong and frosty Mei. Even so, she had a dual talent in Agility and Faith. Though they were both minor, even minor Faith talents were particularly rare.

The day before the exams were to start, Hasegawa had one more wrinkle to throw at us. "Before we end for the day, I have one announcement. I'm very pleased that so many of you have been working hard to prepare for the end of your second year with us. From that, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that your results this year are particularly important for your future as a cultivator. For some of you, admission to the Academy Inner Court is at stake. Others among you are trying to secure a place in Junior Class 1, or at least avoid the bottom Class 3.

You were all told last year that your efforts over the summer are also weighed in your class ranking. That is of course true this year too. The final class placement for next year will not be decided until we have factored in the results from summer. This in mind, the Academy will not be releasing updated ranking information after your exams. I urge you to use the time after this year's exam to prepare well. In many ways, this summer will be more of a test for you than the exams are."

This time, I was determined to get another perfect score. From past results, it had spread around the year that full marks for the sparring portion of the exam varied wildly depending on how skilled you already were. Usually, the spars would be three rounds with someone above you and two with someone below. As Rank #3, I'd faced nothing but opponents lower than my rank, in escalating order in the midterm, and it was the same this time, so I had to win every match.

The 5th match this time was another face-off with Quan, and it actually drew quite a few onlookers. After Quan had stopped refusing to spar at all, he'd trained a lot with Shokoya, me, and Jong. Because of those spars, rumor was that we were pretty evenly matched. However, when it came down to it, I proceeded to dispel those rumors.

The thing about sparring is that you're supposed to fight in such a way to improve how you fight, not to defeat the enemy no matter what. For this fight, where we actually had something at stake, both of us fought quite differently. At the start, I surprised him by lunging for him straight away, not even trying to get enough distance to use my bow. It went back and forth for a bit, but I got him on the defensive much sooner than usual. He'd advanced his style this semester, but my ability to pick apart feints had developed far more than his ability to make them. Just to drive the point home, I knocked the mace right out of his hand—disarming being the rarest seen instant win condition for an exam match, one that indicated a large difference in skill levels between the combatants.

He shook his head, staring at his empty hand. "Unbelievable...I guess this is my limit right now."